BACKSTREETS^©

Live 31 Jan 1998 version

One soft infested summer me and Terry became friends
Trying in vain to breathe the fire we was born in
Catching rides, outskirts, tying faith between our teeth
Sleeping in that old abandoned beach house, getting wasted in the heat
Hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
With a love so hard and filled with defeat
Running for our lives at night out on those backstreets

Slow dancing in the dark on the beach at Stockton's Wing
Where desperate lovers park we sat with the last of the Duke Street Kings
Huddled in our cars waiting for the bells that ring
In the deep heart of the night that set us loose from everything
To go running on the backstreets, running on the backstreets
We swore we'd live forever
On the backstreets we'd take it together

Endless juke joints and Valentino drag
Where dancers scraped the tears up off the streets dressed down in rags
Running into the darkness, some hurt bad some really dying
At night sometimes it seemed you could hear the whole damn city crying
Blame it on the lies that killed us, on the truth that ran us down
You can blame it all on me Terry, it don't matter to me now
When the breakdown hit at midnight there was nothing left to say
But I hated him and I hated you when you went away
Say it!

Now laying here in the dark, you're like an angel on my chest
Just another tramp of hearts crying tears of faithlessness
Remember all the movies, Terry, we'd go see
Trying to learn how to walk like the heroes we thought we had to be
But after all this time to find we're just like all the rest
Stranded in the park and forced to confess
To hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
We swore forever friends
On the backstreets until the end

(Hey!)
(Hey!)
Hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
It's alright
We'll go hiding on the backstreets tonight
Hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets

Whoah, whoah

Page last updated: 00 Xxx 2008

BACKSTREETS was performed on 31 Jan 1998 during the "Come Together: Jon Bon Jovi & Friends" benefit concert held at Count Basie Theater, Red Bank, NJ, and the above lyrics correspond to that performance.

The "Come Together: Jon Bon Jovi & Friends" benefit concert was organized by the Long Branch Police Department, The Asbury Park Press, and FPI Concerts, along with Jon Bon Jovi. The concert was to honor slain Long Branch police officer Sgt. Patrick King and raise money for the Sgt. Patrick King Memorial Fund to provide for his family. King, 45-year-old father of two young boys, was fatally shot on 20 Nov 1997 by a fugitive who had vowed to kill himself and a police officer rather than be captured and returned to jail.

20 musicians with ties to the Jersey shore music scene answered Jon Bon Jovi's call, including Bruce Springsteen, Patti Scialfa and several members of the then-disbanded E Street Band (Clarence Clemons, Danni Frederici, Patti Scialfa, Little Steven, and Max Weinberg), Southside Johnny, Bobby Bandiera, and Richie Sambora among others. Actor Danny DeVito was the event's MC. Tickets, which were priced at $125, went on sale on 17 Jan 1998 noon, selling out in eight minutes. The concert that was organized in short order raised more than $112,000 for King's widow and his two sons.

"It was a chance to forget about it [the murder] a little bit," Long Branch police Sgt. Bruce Johantgen, one of about 50 city police officers who attended the show, told The Asbury Park Press. "The outpouring of love from the performers to the audience was unbelievable". Johantgen said he found it ironic that Bon Jovi and other performers thanked the audience for coming to the sold-out show. "From the police perspective, I kept thinking, 'We should be thanking you for giving your time'," Johantgen said.

This was a near-reunion of the fabled E Street Band and Bruce's first full-length electric gig following the acoustic The Ghost Of Tom Joad Solo Acoustic Tour. Springsteen spent much of (or maybe all) the night onstage, singing or playing guitar only. Soundboard recording for that concert is available among collectors.

List of available versions of BACKSTREETS on this website:

• Album's version (more details)

Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake from BTX and Greasy Lake) for the lyrics help.